Catalog: Artists: Ceramics: Pottery (732)

These expressive forms utilize the clays natural textures to bring out the depths of the oribe green, and electric shimmers of blue flash on the surface in random patterns like heat lightning.  This sake set was created by the very popular and hard to find Higashida Shigemasa and come enclosed in their original signed wooden boxes titled Oribe Tokkuri and Guinomi respectively. 
Size, The Tokkuri: is W 9.5  cm ( 3-3/4 inches)  H 14.6  cm (5-3/4 inches)  Size, Guinomi: is W 5.2  ...

Guinomi creates a very organic feel.  The bulbous form, like some tuber or bulb found in nature, a sake-flower bulb, shows scars where kutsuki (other items) have fused to it in the heat of the conflagration.  Allow this bulb to grow to fruition, blossoming into a shared night of conversation and company or a quiet night of music and moonlight…
Size, The Tokkuri: is W 10.2  cm ( 4 inches)  H 13.6  cm (5-1/2 inches) 
Size, Guinomi: is W 7.7  cm ( 3-1/4 inches)  H 5.5  cm ...

Once again Abe Anjin has proved his mastery of traditional form with this superb rendition of Momoyama styling enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Bizen Hanaire,signed on base as well inside the vase...

A faceted bowl by Hamada Shinsaku exhibiting the superb sense of design to be expected of this illustrious lineage enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shio-yu Tetsu Sabi Mentori Chawan (Salt Glazed Iron Faceted Tea Bowl).  The form is very much in the Mingei taste, A beautifully turned wan-gata with thick walls which have been sliced away, creating an architectural quality.  To this is added a dusting of salt which textures the surface.  Like many great bowls it must be held to ...

A multi faceted Vase by Hamada Shinsaku coated in swipes of blue-salt glaze enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shio-yu Ai Henko (Salt Glazed Blue Vase).  On one side is a blown blue spatter like Jackson Pollock, yet on the opposite fingers traces like Shiraga Kazuo.  The rich blues are punctuated by dustings of rust.  Either side is a pleasure. 
Size,W 15.8 cm ( 6-1/4 inches)  H  cm ( 8-1/4 inches) 
Condition, Excellent 
Born the second son of Hamada Sho...

A seminal work by Wakao Toshisada adorned with the quintessential elements of this artists work, a moon in gold over silver flowers on a gray Nezumi-Shino fold-textured ground.  It comes in the original signed wooden box titled very simply Nezumi Shino Hanaike.  Although I am not a botanist, I imagine the yu-gao (bottle gourd flower, called the face of evening in Japanese) opening to reveal its splendor to the rising moon, visible through the drying autumn grasses.  A superb example of the em...

An Iga Kogo by Kishimoto Kennin and Tamba Kogo by Nishihata Tadashi, both superb examples of their craft and tradition, both by these prominent artists and both enclosed in the original signed wooden boxes.  The Kennin piece is a small square reminiscent of a pillar stone from some long lost temple, the edges covered in earth, the round top lost in a covering of moss.  Here he has breathed new life into the traditional form, both paying homage and yet leaving his indelible mark on it to carry ...

Spectacular kiln affects dapple this playful form by artist Sugimoto Sadamitsu enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Iga Hanire.  Ash has encrusted the base so thickly he has had to grind it off, this happens when the piece gets buried up to a point in the ash on the kiln flooror up against a wall, and the works come up together this cooled encrustation.  That combines with the natural sunrise colors or “Hi-iro” of the clay, and the glassy green beads wrapping around the jocula...

A profusion of color descends the granulated surface of this traditional form by legendary potter Nakagawa Jinenbo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Chosen Karatsu Mimitsuki Hana-ire.  The grandiose embellishment of color creates a sublime sense of tension between the dark glazed and color infusion.  Although very much in the Chosen Karatsu tradition, the execution is unequivocally contemporary. 
Size, W 14.8 cm ( 6 inches)  H 24.5  cm ( 9-1/2 inches) 
Conditi...

ash blasted and bursting with inclusions, this chawan tea bowl by Otani Shiro comes with everything you could want from this representative Shigaraki potter.  Over a terracotta clay burnt ash gray a smattering of pale flying ash provides the backdrop for molten drips of foggy green and yellow shizen yu glaze.  The shape conforms beautifully to the palm, showing the master skill of this important artist. 
Size, W 12.8 cm ( 5-1/4inches)  H 9.9  cm ( 4 inches) 
Condition, Excellen...

Like the iridescent moon itself, this teabowl seems to glow softly from beyond the twilight blue, a luminescence not reflected, but born from within.  It is an exceptional work by Maeda Masahiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled very simply Iro Chawan.  (Colored Tea Bowl) 
Size, D 11.8 cm (4-3/4 inches)  H 9 cm (3-1/2 inches) 
Condition, Excellent 
Maeda Masahiro (b...

A deep bowl pelted with bluish-green salt glaze revealing patches of combed white by Hamada Shoji enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ai-Shioyu Kushime Chawan. The form is composed, rising perfectly from the heavy base to the light rim. The glaze has crawled and settled into lights and shadows, capturing that effect so sought in salt glazes, wth the added feature of the comb marks in the clay, which add a sensory dimension not restricted to vision...

This Tsubo by Tsujimura Kai is amazing and all attitude. It comes enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Shizen-yu Tsubo. Green ash has poured in a torrent around the form, settling into glossy black around the base on one side and tingeing the rim with charcoal fingers. Huge eyelets create bulge from the surface on one side, evidence of how it rested on its side in the kiln. This is one not to be missed, and one we will be hard pressed to let go...

Shades of red ripple like fire in the kiln across the variegated surface of this large Koro by Shino master Kato Toyohisa enclosed in the original wooden box titled Aka-Shino Koro. Whenever one looks into a wood burning kiln during the firing, this is what is visible; ash molten on the sides of pots turned red hot by flames blasting through, long tendrils of fire wrapping about the wavering forms...

Staring into the garden through a window in the lattice wall, bamboo, rising gracefully from the mossy floor, rustles slightly in the breeze. This scene is captured perfectly on this chawan by Living National Treasure Shimaoka Tatsuzo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Gozu Zogan Kusabana Mon Wan. The Jomon rope impressions for which he is so well known create the sense of lattice-work...

A black cloak is draped from the shoulders of this mysterious character lurking in the shadows of the tea room by legendary potter Hori Ichiro enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Seto-guro Chawan. Matte over much of the surface, someplaces the blackness shines like midnight through the fog, the rough sandy texture of the clay reveals itself to the hands more than to the eye, adding a sense of intimacy when holding the bowl...

Silver waves ripple like the summer seas around the Mt. Fuji like cone of this iconic form by Morino Taimei enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Ginsai Namijo Mon Henko (Silver Wave Pattern Vessel). The unsual base of white lends this piece a singular quality among his repertoire, and would be a wonderful compliment to other works by this esteemed artist...

A dark flower blooms magnificently on this black form by Takauchi Shugo enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Tetsu-E Kuro Chawan.
Size, W 13.4cm (5.1/4 inches) H 11.4cm ( 4.1/2 inches)
Condition, Excellent
Takauchi Shugo was born in Tokyo in 1937, opening his kiln in Mashiko at the age of 31...